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Minnesota crushes Purdue to reach Big Ten finalNCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/13/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ralph Sampson III scored a team-high 13 points and Minnesota continued its quest to an unlikely NCAA Tournament bid with a dominating 69-42 drubbing of No. 6 Purdue in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Minnesota (21-12), coming off an upset over Michigan State in the quarters on Friday, held the second-seeded Boilermakers to 11 points and 18.5 percent shooting in the first half to cruise to the lopsided win. Another sublime performance will be needed for the sixth-seeded Golden Gophers to advance to the Big Dance though, as the top-seeded and No. 5 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes stand in their way in Sunday's championship game. Colton Iverson had 11 points and six rebounds, and Devoe Joseph chipped in 10 and seven for the Gophers, who have won seven of their last nine games. Purdue (27-5), the defending conference tourney champs, had won three straight since a 53-44 loss to the Spartans, but a poor showing in this one, plus the absence of star forward Robbie Hummel, has the Boilermakers looking at a much lower seed than what they were anticipating several weeks ago. E'Twuan Moore, who rolled his ankle during the game, came in averaging 17.0 ppg but had just two points on 1-of-14 shooting for Purdue, which was led by JaJuan Johnson's 17 points. Chris Kramer made a jumper 4:13 into the game to get Purdue within 9-4. The Boilermakers, though, went without a point on the next 16 possessions, as Minnesota tallied 17 straight during the 11-minute stretch. Purdue's ugly half was epitomized by a 3-on-1 break that ended in a turnover when Lewis Jackson threw the ball out of bounds near the seven-minute mark. Justin Cobbs' bucket resulted in a 26-4 game with 4:20 left, and Johnson's make just before the buzzer finally put the Boilermakers in double digits, though they were down 37-11. The 11 points was the lowest first-half total for Purdue since 1950. The previous low was 13, which occurred against Minnesota in 1982. A 10-0 run in the early stages of the second half did little to give the Boilermakers momentum, as two Cobbs free throws past the midway point pushed the differential to 54-24. Game Notes The NCAA record, post-shot clock era, for the fewest points scored in the first half is six, posted by Northwestern against Illinois on February 19, 2000...Purdue had won the previous five meetings in the series...Minnesota made 48.0 percent of its shots, while Purdue ended with a 27.6 percent shooting effort...Paul Carter had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Gophers.
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Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it. He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games. "Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote. He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games. Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk. Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible. Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines. Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy. With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season. Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas). And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.) The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors. While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger. Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under. One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it. Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami. What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5. That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well. MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple. "The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money. "At the end of the day, we liked the home team." So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams. In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish. MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover. The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing. Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed. MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash. To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
MySportsbook.com is operated by Sportingbet, a UK gambling company which is publicly traded on the AIM on the London Stock Exchange. To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs. |
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